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strength of his naval forces and those of the Turks made him almost sure of success. The Grand Duke proposed to employ two galleons and six galleys which were already at sea under the orders of the Chevalier de Beauregard, a Frenchman but sprung from the house of Guadagni, of Florence. On the other hand, Jacques Pierre, considering that these vessels had been a long time at sea, that their hulls wanted repairs and their crews rest, thought that in their stead they should use four other large vessels and four patacce, with which he was sure that they might undertake some enterprise in the Levant, and even if the attempt on Famagusta failed they might attack the Caravan. This Caravan was the squadron of Turkish ships which sailed yearly from Alexandria to Constantinople after the return of the pilgrims from Mecca. I may mention that on October 20, 1608, this very squadron under M. de Beauregard successfully attacked these ships, the Grand Duke himself allowing that the prize money reached 2,000,000 ducats, without counting the ransoms paid for many Turks of distinction who were taken prisoners. Jacques Pierre's report goes on to say that he does not think the summer season best suited for the attempt on Famagusta, because the seas are then full of vessels, and the destination of the Tuscan fleet would be easier to discover. The long winter nights are more suitable. He thinks 1700 soldiers and 800 stout sailors sufficient. He knows every corner of the city, and believes it would be easily taken. He was going on to say what action the fleet should take on arrival, but breaks off his report, as the death of Ferdinand I on February 6, 1690, caused the abandonment of the enter-prise. But the conquest of Cyprus always remained within the view of the Medicean princes, for I have read in the same Old Secretariat a proposal made by a Cypriot, Maximilian Tronchi, to the Grand Duke Ferdinand II when he visited 148 Sundry Notes on Cyprus [CH.

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